1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to liquid ejecting apparatuses including a cap member for capping a liquid ejecting surface of a liquid ejecting head.
2. Related Art
As an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus, an ink jet recording apparatus including an ink jet recording head configured to eject ink droplets can be cited. As an ink jet recording head, there is provided such a recording head that includes a flow path member having an ink flow path such as a pressure generation chamber to which ink is supplied, and a nozzle plate which is bonded to the flow path member and in which a nozzle communicating with the pressure generation chamber is formed; the stated recording head ejects ink droplets through the nozzle by applying pressure to ink within the pressure generation chamber by, for example, driving a piezoelectric element or the like.
An ink jet recording apparatus, in general, includes a cap member for capping an ink ejecting surface (liquid ejecting surface) in which a nozzle of the ink jet recording head is opened. The cap member is a member that makes contact with part of the ink jet recording head to cap (perform capping on) the ink ejecting surface (the nozzle opened in the ink ejecting surface), and that is so provided as to be in contact with, for example, an outer circumference of the ink ejecting surface. As a cap member, for example, a member that is so configured as to make contact with an outer circumference side wall of a flow path member (flow path unit) formed in a step-like shape is disclosed (for example, see JP-A-2008-200849).
By causing the cap member to make contact with the ink jet recording head and capping the ink ejecting surface in the manner described above, it is possible to suppress ink in the vicinity of the nozzle from drying, thickening, and so on even if stand-by time exceeds a predetermined period of time, for example.
In the case where capping is performed by causing the above-mentioned cap member to make contact with the ink ejecting surface or the like, such stress is produced in the nozzle plate that causes the nozzle plate to deform in a direction toward the flow path member side during the capping operation. For example, even in the case where the cap member makes contact with the outer circumference side wall of the flow path member as described in JP-A-2008-200849, such stress is produced in the flow path member and the nozzle plate that causes deformation in a direction toward the flow path member side. Furthermore, there is a risk of occurrence of a problem that the nozzle plate is separated from the flow path member due to the stress produced during the capping operation.
The above problem is present not only in ink jet recording heads but also present similarly in liquid ejecting heads configured to eject liquid droplets other than ink droplets.